Requiem (Delirium Trilogy 3)

From the bestselling author of Panic, now a major Amazon Prime series

By: Lauren Oliver

Narrated by: Sarah Drew

The thrilling climax to one of the most eagerly awaited series since The Hunger Games and Twilight.

I've started dreaming of Portland again. Like a monster from one of the ghost stories we used to tell as kids, the past has been finding its way in. It bubbles up through the cracks when I'm not paying attention, and pulls at me with greedy fingers.
This is what they warned me about for all those years: the heavy weight in my chest, the nightmare-fragments that follow me even in waking life.
I warned you, Aunt Carol says in my head.
We told you, Rachel says...


(P)2013 Hodder & Stoughton©2013 Lauren Oliver

Critic reviews

The new Hunger Games . . . We loved the first two books, and spring sees the publication of the final instalment . . . With a movie trilogy in the pipeline too, you'd better get reading!

Lena Haloway's journey will have readers breathlessly turning the pages . . . A dystopian tour de force.

Fast paced and consistently poignant, this tale quickly becomes hypnotically addictive ... A thoughtful, exciting and moving story that reminds us just how important love is. Devour it, then go and give all your friends a big hug. (Heat on DELIRIUM)

A dystopian Romeo and Juliet story that deserves to be as massive as Twilight. (Stylist on DELIRIUM)

Amazing, unputdownable! (Grazia on DELIRIUM)

We're big fans of Lauren Oliver and this is the emotionally charged follow-up to last year's futuristic love story DELIRIUM. With echoes of Brave New World, we catch up with young heroine Lena as she attempts to survive in the dangerous Wilds . . . Now we just have to wait for the final episode in the trilogy. (Bella on PANDEMONIUM)

In the same mode as Suzanne Collins in her Hunger Games trilogy, Oliver, too, posits a feisty, physically able heroine, giving as good as she gets, in a fast-paced YA thriller: this trend is a welcome one. (Independent on Sunday on PANDEMONIUM)

'The new Hunger Games . . . We loved the first two books, and spring sees the publication of the final instalment . . . With a movie trilogy in the pipeline too, you'd better get reading!'

'[T]he final chapters of Lena Haloway's journey will have readers breathlessly turning the pages . . . A dystopian tour de force.'

'Lauren Oliver is the rising star of young adult fiction . . . [DELIRIUM] deftly conjures up a recognisably dystopian parallel to our own world, as convincingly terrifying as the North America of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale.'

'Amazing, unputdownable!'

Thrilling and thought-provoking . . . Fast paced and consistently poignant, this tale quickly becomes hypnotically addictive.

Crackling with tension, Lauren Oliver's follow up to DELIRIUM is as whip smart and addictive as her dystopian debut.

Prepare to become completely absorbed.

Oliver is a considerably better writer than the Twilight creator - an adept and occasionally courageous storyteller who can shock and awe with a well-placed twist.

We're big fans of Lauren Oliver and this is the emotionally charged follow-up to last year's futuristic love story DELIRIUM. With echoes of Brave New World, we catch up with young heroine Lena as she attempts to survive in the dangerous Wilds . . . Now we just have to wait for the final episode in the trilogy.

Masterpiece

There’s only one way to survive in this world: build walls. Everyone is doing it. Inside the Delirium free cities, they build walls to keep the disease out. Outside the cities, they build walls to keep the hurt out. Stuck out in the wilds, torn between the two boys who have each stolen a piece of her heart, Lena learns this skill quickly. But is it all worth it? Is life really any better under the guise of ‘freedom’ and how far is she willing to go to fight for what she believes in, if it means tearing down the very walls that protect her?

I cannot fully explain how Lauren Oliver’s writing skills have awed me. Every word, every sentence, every paragraph has been painstakingly selected to provide maximum emotional impact. Her descriptions catapult you into the wilds, until you can actually feel the bite of the cold and see the rays of glittering sunshine piercing the trees.

Lena’s character development was heart-wrenching in this installment. The intensity of her emotional state was further heightened by Hana’s point of view. From the beginning, I loved the character of Hana, but her journey has been more of a ‘character change’ rather than ‘character development’, in keeping with the storyline. I loved the diverging and converging storylines of the two best friend’s and felt that the ending tied up things nicely between them. It was also a wonderful reminder, in the midst of the love triangle, that there are other types of ‘deliria’ than just the romantic kind.

The resolution of the love triangle was not what I expected. In many ways, the entire ending left many things up in the air. At first, I was in two minds about this, but when I considered the purpose of the storyline, I concluded that it just wouldn't have been as effective with a more cut and dried approach. The entire series is about love and life and neither of those things is ever perfectly resolved or completed. I believe Ms Oliver wanted us to think about the issues she raised in her series long past the final page and in that mission, she has succeeded.

There were many times in this novel, when I began to question which side I was on, and whether the freedom to choose and to love really was something worth fighting for when it came at such a cost. This ability to make the reader feel and think is one of the rarest skills among good writers, especially when that writer makes you question the very premises she has established in the first series. I loved that we got to see things unfold from both sides of the wall. I also particularly enjoyed the parental themes, which included Raven’s wonderful character, and the effect she had on Lena.

Overall, this is one of the most thought provoking, well-written series I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. Now to search for more Lauren Oliver masterpieces…

Two guys and one girl

Two guys and one girl. Or maybe one couple and one guy. Scavengers or Invalids. Hanna comes up. She is cured and have married.